Continuous vertical casting apparatus with improved cooling



Aug. 11, 1970 s; PEYRAUD- ET AL 3,523,573

CONTINUOUS VERTICAL CASTING APPARATUS WITH IMPROVED COOLING Filed June 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet l I I A 13/ 41 5 12/ 4 Q 22 FIG. I z

y INVENTORS SERGE PE mnz/owfmvFp /mz 777Do all, M M 1W A L Aug. 11,1970 1 s; PEYRAUD ETAL' 3,523,573

commuous VERTICAL CASTING APPARATUS WITH IMPROVED coomne Filed June 21. 1968 s Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

Aug. 11, 1970 s, PEYRAUD ET AL 3,523,573

CONTINUOUS VERTICAL CASTING APPARATUS WITH IMPROVED COOLING Filed Jun 21. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

Patented Aug. 11, 1970 3 523 573 purities present in the liquid, ultimately resulting in col- CONTINUOUS VERTICAL CASTING APPARATUS lapswfthesheet- WITH IMPROVED COOLING Serge Peyraud and Jean Freiche, Issoire, France, assignors to Cegedur GP, Paris, France Filed June 21, 1968, Ser. No. 739,031 Claims priority, application France, June 29, 1967,

Int. Cl. nzzd 11/12 US. Cl. 164-283 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The apparatus for continuous vertical casting with a vertical mold and a casting frame having a spaced relationship therebetween, a system for cooling the mold by deflection of a stream of cooling liquid onto the outer wall of the mold comprising a groove in the side wall of the frame having openings through which cooling liquid flows and which extend perpendicularly through the wall of the frame into the groove and having a diameter equal to the width of the groove and at least one mold supporting frame interconnecting the casting frame with the mold and a deflector plate extending crosswise between the frame and the mold with its upper face having channels extending substantially parallel to the axis of the openings and positioned beneath the frame to provide a duct through which the cooling liquid flows from the openings for deflection onto the mold and which includes a smooth ledge and draft edge on the portion of the deflector plate adjacent the mold for distribution of the cooling liquid.

This invention relates to an apparatus for continuous vertical casting and more particularly to an apparatus of the type described having an improved cooling system.

It is known that slabs or billets can be made by vertically casting a molten material, such as a metal or an alloy, into a mold with vertical generatrices having internally the section of the product to be cast. The mold is cooled to enable the material to solidify. As a general rule, cooling is obtained by allowing a liquid, such as water, to flow down the outer wall of the mold. For this purpose, the mold is surrounded at its upper end by a chamber, known as a casting frame, provided with one or more openings through which the cooling liquid flows. The mold is usually supported by means of a flange on the upper part of the casting frame, the flange being machined in a manner to keep the mold properly centered. The distance between the inner wall of the casting frame and the outer wall of the mold is governed by the pressure of the cooling liquid so as to obtain effective cooling.

Unfortunately, a disadvantage of this arrangement is that the dimensions of the mold can be varied only within narrow limits if it is desired to maintain a correct sprinkling action.

At its upper end, the casting frame is formed with a row of horizontal or inclined passages through which a liquid, such as water, flows and cools the outer surfaces of the mold. Occasionally, use is made of an inclined continuous slot instead of such openings.

The system which makes use of inclined passages has disadvantages emanating from difliculties in drilling the holes or passages with the result that they become misaligned. At the same time, the holes should be small enough in cross-section to create a sheet of liquid with the result that there is danger of blockage of the holes with resulting collapse of the sheet.

The slot system has the disadvantage of being extremely expensive by reason of difficulties involved in machining. The slot has to be extremely narrow with the result that there is danger of frequent partial blockage from im- The two systems comprising inclined holes or an inclined slot further share the common disadvantage of sprinkling the mold from a section situated too far from its head thus making it necessary to make use of much taller molds.

In the system which makes use of horizontally disposed holes or passages, no difliculties are encountered in drilling and alignment is more regular. In addition, it insures that the mold is sprinkled from a section closer to its head thereby to enable short molds to be used. However, there remains the danger of blockage and corresponding collapse of the sheet of water or other cooling liquid.

It is an object of this invention to provide a continuous vertical casting apparatus having an improved cooling system which insures better sprinkling of the mold through a sheet of liquid without danger of collapse of the sheet.

.These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- FIG. 1 is a sectional elevational view of a portion of the apparatus embodying the features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the elements in their relative positions; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view of a modification in the form of a twin frame apparatus adapted for use with molds of lesser cross-section.

The apparatus embodying the features of this invention comprises in combination a casting frame with holes drilled perpendicularly through its side Wall, with the holes being situated at the bottom of a groove the width of which is equal to the diameter of the holes; at least one vertical mold of conventional construction and, in the space between these two components, at least one unit in the form of a mold supporting frame operatively engaged at one end to the casting frame and at the other end to the mold, and a deflector provided on its upper face with channels substantially parallel to the axis of the nearby holes and situated beneath the frame so as to form a duct therebetween through which the cooling liquid flows for transmission onto the mold.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus additionally includes at least one of the following features, namely:

The mold supporting frame rests on the casting frame through a flange which insures proper centering;

Adjacent the mold, the mold supporting frame comprises a retaining means which receives a flange integral with the mold;

The deflector is held to the mold supporting frame by means which enables adjustment of height of the duct that is formed between the deflector and the supporting frame and through which the cooling liquid flows; and

Adjacent the mold, the deflector has a smooth ledge terminating in a draft edge to insure the formation of a. sheet of cooling liquid.

Referring now to the drawings, the continuous vertical casting apparatus with its improved cooling system comprises a casting frame 1, a mold 2 having its outer wall spaced from the casting frame, and an intermediate element comprising a mold supporting frame 3 and a deflector 4.

Along its inner wall 11, the casting frame is provided with a continuous horizontal groove 12 at the bottom of which are drilled holes 13 having a horizontal axis and the diameter of which is equal to the width of the groove.

The groove 12 makes it easier for the holes 13 to be drilled and aligned and it operates to join the streams of water in the event that one of the holes becomes blocked. The holes, the function of which is not to form a sheet of water but solely to insure that the intermediate unit is regularly supplied with water or other cooling liquid, are relatively large in diameter.

The mold 2 with its vertical axis 21 is of conventional design. It is formed with an upper horizontally disposed outwardly extending peripheral flange 23 which, in conventional apparatus, is adapted to rest directly upon the upper part of the casting frame 1.

The mold supporting frame 3 is engaged at one end to be casting frame 1 and at the other end to the mold 2. In the illustrated modification, it comprises, adjacent the casting frame, a horizontally disposed edge flange 32 adapted to rest on the upper face of the casting frame 1 and, adjacent the mold, an inner retaining means or recess 31 which is adapted to receive the flange 23 of the mold.

On at least part of its upper face, the deflector 4 is provided with channels 41 which extend substantially parallel to the axis of the next hole 13. Adjacent the mold, the upper surface of the deflector terminates in a draft edge 42 which may be preceded by a smooth, horizontally disposed ledge 43. The channels stabilize the flow of liquid in the transverse direction through the duct from the holes of the casting frame to the draft edge 42 and prevent the sheet of liquid from shifting to one side. The smooth ledge portion enables the sheet of water to spread out while the draft edge enables a sheet of liquid to be formed for deflection onto the outer wall of the mold for cooling the mold forming section situated at a level 22 adjacent its upper end.

The deflector is attached to the supporting frame by means of studs 44 and bolts 45. In general, the external upper portion of the mold is shaped to be rectangular or square in section with the casting frame itself being of rectangular shape. The frame is thus in one piece while the deflector may consist of four elements attached to the frame.

It is possible to make use of molds varying in section with one and the same casting frame 1. This is achieved either by using a single intermediate unit of appropriate width, as shown in FIG. 1, or by using several intermediate units each of which has an outer section slightly smaller than the internal section of the preceding unit, as shown in FIG. 3. It is thus possible to apply each element or unit, such as 302, to the preceding unit 301. The flange 3022 of the unit 302, like the flange 32 of the mold, is thus accommodated in the retaining recess means 3011 of the unit 301 similar to the retaining means 31 previously described.

It will be apparent that we have provided an improved means for use with apparatus for continuous vertical casting of metals, alloys and the like, whereby cooling liquid is caused to flow properly from horizontal openings provided in the upper portion of the casting frame across a deflector member to adjacent the outer walls of the mold with means in the deflector member to maintain uniform distribution of the cooling liquid and formation of a stream or sheet of liquid which is deflected properly onto the outer walls of the mold.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement and operation without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for continuous vertical casting having a vertical mold and a casting frame with a spaced relationship therebetween, the improvement in a system for cooling the mold by deflection of a stream of cooling liquid onto the outer wall of the mold comprising a groove in the side wall of the casting frame and openings extending perpendicularly through the wall of the casting frame contiguous with the groove and having a diameter equal to the width of the groove, and at least one mold supporting frame interconnecting the casting frame with the mold and a deflector extending crosswise between the casting frame and mold and in spaced relation with the mold supporting frame, the upper face of said deflector being formed with channels extending substantially parallel to the axis of the adjacent openings in the supporting frame and located beneath the openings to provide troughs over which the cooling liquid flows from the openings across the deflector for projection onto the mold.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which includes a horizontally disposed edge flange on the mold supporting frame which rests on the casting frame for proper centering of the mold.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which includes a recess on the end portion of the mold supporting frame adjacent the mold and a peripheral flange on the mold which rests in said recess.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which includes means for securing the deflector onto the mold supporting frame and which includes means for varying the space between said frame and deflector.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which said means comprises nut and screw means interconnecting the deflector and mold supporting frame.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which includes a smooth horizontally disposed ledge on the edge portion of the deflector adjacent the mold for spreading the cooling liquid flowing over the deflector to the mold.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the deflector terminates in a draft edge at the end of the smooth ledge to form the cooling liquid into a sheet which is deflected onto the mold for cooling.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the cooling liquid is water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,414,047 12/1968 Saunders l64283 J. SPENCER OVLERHOLSER, Primary Examiner V. K. RISING, Assistant Examiner 

